The Swordsman
by Inatorinator
Summary: What if Korra had failed to rescue Tenzin and the last airbenders in existence from losing their bending? What if Korra was captured by Amon? How would the world change? Main character is an OC Equalist. KorraXOC later maybe...
1. Chapter 1

The Swordsman

What if Korra had failed to rescue Tenzin and the last airbenders in existence from losing their bending? What if Korra was captured by Amon? How would the world change?

It was a normal midsummer afternoon in Republic City, almost 200 years since Amon had been defeated. A young boy was fishing in the park, despite the "No Fishing" rule. The boy noticed something shiny below the surface of the water, and dove in, uncovering what had been a hidden message box.

"Grandpa! Look what I found!" exclaimed the young boy as he ran with the box to his grandpa.

Together, they opened the box, revealing a series of papers, the first of which read:

_This isn't going to be some tale where everything goes right, and where good always prevails. No…often at times, evil will triumph. But what makes something good, and another thing evil? If you are reading this document, then you must know: the tale that follows this message would not be one that should be taken lightly. It will forever be a part of history, and history should never be forgotten. I implore whoever is reading this to learn from the mistakes of these people in this story, and emerge as better people, not blinded by ignorance, arrogance, or greed. It is often said that the truth will set you free, and in reading this, the truth may well set you free. It is recorded in history that the Avatar beat Amon and saved the world. What has been forgotten though, is that it took her two tries to do so. You have found these papers, my testament to what happened during that time. What you do with them is your decision. All I hope is that whoever reads it learns a vital lesson. Here is my tale: the tale of a swordsman….._

"Can this be what I think it is?" asked the grandfather, mostly to himself.

"What do you mean Grandpa?"

"You…..you found these….These are the chronicles of Somgai, the master swordsman and Hero of Republic City!"

"But Grandpa, how could a swordsman be a hero of Republic City? Wouldn't he need to be a bender like me and you?" asked the boy.

"You don't have to be a bender to be a hero."


	2. Chapter 2

The Swordsman

Chapter 1: A Story of My Past

_Father had always told me that bending was a gift, it made me who I was. Mother, however, always told me that bending was just bending, there was no spiritual meaning behind it. I'm sure the history books only record the fact that I was a master swordsman, but the truth is that I….I was an airbender. "But how is that possible?" you may ask. "Tenzin only had 5 children: Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan!" I was the son of Tenzin, but not the son of Pema. My mother was Lin Beifong. _

_Mother was pregnant when father left her for Pema, and although she didn't show it on the outside, she was broken on the inside, heartbroken from the fact that her soul mate had left her. She never told him about me, and nine months later, when I was born, she did not tell my father either. He had a happy life with Pema, and my mother, headstrong and stubborn as she was, his happiness was all that mattered to her, and so she raised me in the shadows, claiming to my father that I was an orphan from the streets left at her doorstep. Only I knew who she truly was: my mother. She instilled in me a sense of justice, of following the law, and for a time, I wanted to be a police officer just as she was. However, I could never be one, despite all my hopes, because I was not an earthbender. At the age of 2, my mother discovered that I was an airbender over dinner. She was feeding me noodle soup, and was still hoping that I would show any sign of being an earthbender so she could train me, when I suddenly sneezed, causing all the food that was on the table to collide with a wall on the opposite side of the room. _

_"Somgai…you're an airbender…" she said with a sigh. "Just like your father….."_

_Try as hard as she might, my mother could not forget Tenzin, and I only served as a constant reminder of him in her life. Despite the pain it caused her, she still loved me, and treated me no different than if I were an earthbender. Growing up, that's the one thing I loved about my mother. She treated everyone equally—no one would receive special treatment unless they earned it. Mother told me that I had to keep my airbending secret for a while, and that while it was extremely useful, one should not be solely dependant on it and should be proficient as well. So at the age of 4, she apprenticed me under Sokka, the greatest swordsman ever to have lived, so that I might learn the trade of the sword. She told me that I would learn to not have to rely on bending entirely, and that while training with the sword, that I should never airbend. And I, young as I was, knew that you should never cross my mother. _

_For the first year of my apprenticeship, Sokka, though advanced in age, built me from the ground up in swordsmanship. Though I eventually specialized in the katana, what I learned the most from Sokka is that there is a whole skill set that benders often neglect because they can bend the elements. Stealth, strategy, agility, dedication, and strife. Under Sokka, I eventually mastered the use of the katana at the age of 10, but I also came to understand that everyone: benders and nonbenders, are equal. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but no one side is ever superior to the other. That same year I made my own sword, and Sokka, my master, passed away due to old age. I believed that my training was incomplete, and so I practiced day and night in the way of the sword, developing the quickness, agility, and accuracy that I would have never had if I became solely a bender. I returned to my mother, sword in hand, and she embraced me on the spot. I was shocked by this display of emotion, especially from her. _

_ "You're home!" she said as she hugged me._

"_Mom, I learned a lot from Master Sokka, and I understand that the greatest lesson I had ever learned from him is that there are benefits to being a bender and benefits to being a nonbender, but one side should never oppress the other."_

"_I'm glad you learned a lot Somgai, but you must understand: Republic City is in turmoil. Both benders and nonbenders have struck out against the city, for different reasons, ever since Avatar Aang's death. Not everyone understands the balance he had created. As one of the last airbenders, it is your duty to maintain the balance your grandfather created. You must master airbending and keep the city safe. And…..in order to do so…..you must learn airbending from your father…..Tenzin…..Don't let him know that you're a bender like he is. Merely observe his technique, and practice where he won't see you. I…I know you can do it son…..Whatever you do, don't show him your bending, or the fact that you are his son, for that will hurt him greatly, and I….would never want that. Tomorrow you'll leave for the air temple" she said, and tears began to form in her eyes. _

"_Mom, don't worry! Right now, Let's eat!" I said with a grin, causing her to laugh as well, and we both went in to eat dinner. _

_The next day, mother walked with me to the entrance of the air temple, and presented me to Tenzin, my father. _

"_Tenzin, this is the boy I told you about before. He trained under Sokka, and I wish for him to gain a better understanding of how the world is from your perspective. He is a nonbender, but I want him to see the world as an airbender. I will pick him up in 2 years I suppose."_

"_Alright Lin", replied my father. "But, if I may ask, why are you taking such a profound interest in this boy?"_

"_I found him on the streets and raised him as my own. He's like the son I never had", was her reply. _

"_Very Well."_

_My mother said goodbye to me, and left me with my father, who was completely unaware of my true identity. _

_ "So…..", he said somewhat awkwardly. "What is your name?"_

_ "My name is Somgai, but my old master just called me Gai", I replied._

"_Wait…Gai as in chicken?" he asked somewhat whimsically, and then began to laugh, before abruptly switching back to his serious façade. "Nevermind that. Let's get you some new clothes." _

_Tenzin made me an Air Temple Acolyte, and even though I was the youngest, I nevertheless felt as if I was at home. My daily duties involved doing the laundry, cooking meals, and playing with my half-sister, Jinora, who was 3 at the time. Like my father and I, she was also an airbender, and so father set about training her. After finishing with my daily duties, I would sit in on their lessons, with father completely unaware that I was an airbender as well. When night would come, I would practice all that father taught Jinora, though I would do it in the secrecy of my room. Although my progress was maddeningly slow, I managed to learn rudimentary airbending within a year. Coupling my bending with swordplay, I was able to compensate for my lack of bending knowledge, and experience. _

_After I had remained with Tenzin for about a year, he had another child, a daughter named Ikki. His two daughters looked to me as their older brother, which I technically was, and I looked out for them as well. However, that same year, Tenzin caught me practicing one night. I had become rather ambitious and careless in my training, practicing outside rather than in the confines of my room. That night, I started practice with simple sword movements, using my katana with the grace, speed, and accuracy just as Sokka had taught me. After a half an hour of sword practice, I then proceeded to basic airbending, unleashing jets of air rather clumsily and with wasted motion. After one set of bending, I was interrupted by him…_

"_Gai! You…..You're an airbender? How can this be?"_

"_Sorry Master, but this is the reason my mother sent me here, so that I could hone airbending with you. Please, don't tell her, she'd only get mad at me." I replied._

"_Don't you worry about Lin. I won't tell her a thing. I will teach you all that I know, but you must never airbend in public, for if they knew, who knows what would happen! But….Who were your parents? Is it possible that there are more airbenders?" he asked._

"_I'm sorry sir, but I have never known who my real mother and father were" I said as I looked down at the ground. Here I was, lying to my father, and it seemed as if he bought it._

"_Hmmm…alright then…..Let's begin your training. Training you might be good practice for when I have to train the avatar in seven years."_

_And so, the more intense training began. Under father's tutelage, I learned the finer aspects of airbending, and a year later, at 12 years of age, I had learned what I could and was a proficient airbender. Not a master by any means, but a proficient bender to say the least. My mother picked me up from Air Temple Island, and the next two years were uneventful, marked by the countless hours of training, eating, and…more training. I didn't have a reason to train, yet that was all that I could do. Times were peaceful, and I reckon that for the first 13 years of my life, I was truly happy, and at peace with my place in the world. _

_But everything changed when I was 14 years of age. The city began to devolve into hate crime after hate crime, with benders taking advantage of nonbenders. Benders began to see their nonbending counterparts as inferior, and due to their inability to retaliate against bending they were completely helpless. I had dismissed these crimes as exaggerations, until I saw one myself. I remember that day vividly…_

_Three earthbenders were assaulting an unarmed nonbending woman. They..…They were ruthless, chasing her with reckless abandon and using earthbending against her until they had cornered her in an alleyway. Then, they did the unspeakable…..They began to forcefully strip her of her clothing, but before they could finish, that's where I stepped in._

_I pulled out my katana, jumped nimbly down next to the group, and ran the sword straight through one of the earthbenders. Quickly pulling my katana out of the bleeding bender, I spun and lashed out with my sword once again, slicing a second bender's neck, causing blood to gush out literally everywhere. The last remaining earthbender sent several rocks at large speeds toward my head, which I parried easily with the flat end of my sword. Seeing that his efforts were futile, he tried to earthbend, attempting to launch me in the air by manipulating the ground beneath my feat. But he had telegraphed his attack, and I quickly leaped from my spot and did a front flip mid-air, putting me in the perfect position for the finishing blow: decapitation. You may be asking yourself: How could a 14 year old be a killing machine? The answer is that I wasn't. But the unfair treatment that nonbenders received hurt me to the core. It went against my mother's teachings, what I had learned from Sokka and Tenzin, and the general principles of equality. An innocent was about to be hurt by the arrogance, hubris, and greed of others. And so I killed those men in cold blood to protect their nonbending victim. It was on this day that I finally realized the discrimination present in Republic City. With my grandfather, Avatar Aang, no longer there to set an example for benders to act, the benders became blinded by their power. On this day I became an Equalist._

_The Equalists originally started as a small group of five led by Amon, of which I was a member. It was not difficult for me to be accepted, for I had kept my bending a secret and instead used my sword as my tool. At first our tasks were righteous and just. We were vigilantes, protecting the innocents from assault, burglary, and rape by corrupt benders within the city. I had no idea this was merely a façade to gain public support for his cause. As more and more nonbenders joined the Equalist cause, Amon….he…..well you know the story. He began to take people's bending away. Bending made them who they were, and should not be taken away, but Amon did so regardless of that. The way he saw things, bending was the source of all evil in the world. But bending is not evil. People are unique, they can be good, but they can also be selfish, and I'll be damned if I ever meet one person who has never been both good and selfish in their lives. If you've ever even opened a history book, you'll know how Amon's crimes escalated in the three year period prior to the Avatar's arrival to the city, and I played along with Amon's plan. I had been brainwashed into one of his faithful officers, following his every whim even though they went against my core beliefs. _

_If I hadn't learned the error of my ways, if I hadn't rebelled, the city would still be in Amon's grasp to this day. And now that you know my history, here is the story of your history: the saving of Republic City._


End file.
